The Judiciary Issue
once again, i am very angry.
over the past few weeks, i’ve been watching this judiciary debacle very quietly. for those not in the know of this issue, and i am sad to have discovered that this number is far greater than i would care for it to be, which is also one reason that spurred this post in the first place, here is a brief summary of the issue before i continue :
made public via Malaysiakini last month, was a 8-minute video clip that is proof of the corruption that exists in our judiciary system. taken in 2002 when Mahathir was still PM, the video clip showed a senior lawyer VK Lingam having a phone conversation with an unidentified person, strongly believed to be Datuk Ahmad Fairuz, who was at that time the Chief Judge of Malaya (CJM), the 3rd highest post in the judiciary.
the situation was that the Chief Justice (CJ) of that time, aka the top guy, the judiciary No.1, the main man who has the post everyone else covets, was stepping down as CJ soon. but before his tenure was to officially end, it seems he was hard at work making sure his ‘men’ would secure the top judiciary positions after he left.
Ahmad Fairuz (judiciary’s No.3 guy, aka person allegedly on the other end of the phone conversation in the video clip) is not part of the CJ’s camp, and would probably NOT be promoted to No.2 or No.1 unless something was done. obviously, he would like to be No.1, right? and so ’something’ must be done.
the Chief Justice is appointed by the country’s Agong upon advice from the Prime Minister, and so the Prime Minister is the person you want on your side if hypothetically speaking you would like to become the Chief Justice of Malaysia. but of course the PM is not accessible to all and sundry, so when you wanna get to him, you get to his good friends first. the PM’s good friends in this case and as implicated in the video, are none other than Tan Sri Vincent Tan (tycoon and owner of Berjaya Group) and Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan (current Tourism Minister).
enter VK Lingam, well-connected and ‘correct’ lawyer as he is, who offers to help Ahmad Fairuz obtain the CJ post. he claims to have already pursued - and will continue to pursue - the assistance of Vincent Tan and Tengku Adnan in persuading Mahathir to appoint Ahmad Fairuz as the next Chief Justice of Malaysia. can lah friend, can lah can lah, i help you because you suffer so much already. ya ya correct correct i help you.
long story short : Ahmad Fairuz -> VK Lingam -> Vincent Tan & Tengku Adnan -> Mahathir
remember that this video was secretly filmed in 2002. one year later in 2003, Ahmad Fairuz was appointed Chief Justice of Malaysia. end of summary of issue.
so yes, our judiciary is helmed by someone appointed not by means of meritocracy or integrity, but by means of corruption. it can be deduced that if corruption can exist at such an elevated position in the judiciary hierarchy, it can exist at all lower levels of the judiciary too.
also, if the appointment of someone this CRUCIAL and INSTRUMENTAL to the country can be manipulated so simply, just so long as you know the right people, then think about all the people in the higher levels of your government. the people in the higher levels of your police force. your cabinet. your ministers. does it not disgust you to know that the people who run your country are people appointed because they are cronies of the government, because they are corrupt, because they know who to bribe and pull strings with, and not because they are the best people for the job?
does it not make you sick to the stomach to think that the people in your country’s judiciary - the people who decide who is wrong and who is right, the people who mete out punishment and sentences, the people who have the power to release alleged criminals, the people who are supposed to uphold JUSTICE in the name of 27 million Malaysians - may be crooks?
does it not make you wonder about recent court cases of government vs anyone else, and all the verdicts that have been passed? do you not think of the Altantuya case which has been twisted beyond recognition (dont forget who was implicated in the first place) and is now almost forgotten? do you not think of Lina Joy?
all of the above makes me angry. it makes me angry to know that such injustice can happen in ironically what is supposed to be the body of justice in the country. and you know what else makes me angry? the UTTER AND COMPLETE INEPTITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENT IN DEALING WITH THIS ISSUE.
the response of the government thus far has been this : “shock. how can our government’s judiciary be corrupt. no such thing because we are not corrupt. wait, the rakyat are not happy and demand that this incident be investigated? okay, but first we dont believe that this video is real. it could be fake. it could be people trying to set up Ahmad Fairuz cos they dont like him. it could be, gasp, opposition tactics to erode belief in the government!!! so yes we understand that this could be a serious issue, but before we investigate Lingam, Ahmad Fairuz or anyone else implicated in the video, let us first determine the authenticity of the video. let us set up a 3 man panel that will decide what to do. only when this video is deemed ‘authentic’ by the panel, then will we make the next step.”
if you have been following the news, you will know that this 3 man panel that was set up to probe this issue is essentially DOING NOTHING. Lingam cant be reached for comment and the panel is not even following up. Ahmad Fairuz has denied any involvement in this and the panel has decided to allow him to do that. basically this panel has been given the most narrow terms of reference, and what they’re doing is sitting back and saying, okay we cannot do anything unless the person who took this video owns up.
what. the hell. is that.
why is there a need for the videotaker to own up, when the proof in video form, is right there for the entire country to see? it is SO CLEAR that the people to be investigated are the people IMPLICATED, not the one who exposed this issue. say if a person kidnaps a child in a mall, and there is video footage of him doing so, you bloody arrest the kidnapper lah right? you dont get to say, ‘oh, the kidnapper is a friend of mine, so i kinda wanna determine the authenticity of the footage before we make any drastic decisions, ok? btw i’m gonna arrest the shopkeeper because i think it was really irresponsible of him to accuse someone of kidnapping! nvm that he has video proof! the proof may not even be authentic!’
i mean, what for crying out loud, is ‘authenticity’ of video footage anyway? what exactly would make this panel sit up and say, okay yes this video is authentic, we can now proceed to the next stage of investigation? seriously, would having a name and face to the videotaker prove anything? i am willing to bet that if someone really did own up to taking the video, they would come up with a million reasons to say why this person could have faked the entire video for anti-government, anti-patriotic, disharmony-inciting reasons.
see this is how messed up the system is. you get stuck at Stage 1 because of all this red tape, because the government doesnt really WANT anything to be achieved, but then they blame it on lack of evidence and authenticity. so in the end, what gets settled? absolutely jack shit! as i write this, it’s Hari Raya, and the whole of Malaysia will be happily feasting on raya cookies and beef rendang for a whole week. all the newspapers will be covering happy clappy open houses instead of keeping the public focused on what really matters. we have a freaking angkasawan on some high tech space trip (when he is really but a ‘flight participant’ on this journey), and everyone is happy because Malaysia is making history by sending the first ever Malaysian up in space! yay got a few days Raya holiday, i think i’m going to go to Pangkor Laut! oh Government so nice say dont have petrol price or toll increase for the whole of next year! huh what judiciary incident? forgot already lor!
i am SO MAD that this is allowed to happen. all this delaying and stalling tactics, so that people will forget what is going on, so that the rakyat’s zeal to see a conclusion achieved will die down, and in the end the corrupt judiciary and government get to save face and of course win the next election.
our favourite minister from the PM’s department Nazri Aziz was recently interviewed on this issue. oh my god the GEMS that came from this text!
when asked on what the government will do to protect the identity of the videotaker, and under what Act will this protection be granted, he said “The government can do anything. (The protection is) actually in various Acts, the government can provide protection. It doesn’t have to be in any other Act.”. just listen to that arrogance, just listen. it completely befuddles me as to why this arrogant, lazy, corrupt government is given power election after election. yea if you can do anything, why not listen to what your people are demanding of you, and do a proper investigation into this matter rather than something so half-assed and plebeian! you all can do anything wat. why not subject Ahmad Fairuz and VK Lingam to the law and make them cough up real answers? if you can simply detain people under the OSA and ISA and Sedition Act, then surely you can do something as small as this, oh powerful Barisan Nasional!
when asked on whether the government is serious about this issue, he said, “Of course, we are serious. We have to settle this problem first. If it turns out that the video clip is not authentic, there is no case at all. What is there to talk about?”. ahh see. that is all they are setting out to do! not to prove the ‘authenticity’ of this video as good law enforcers and justice keepers would, but to disprove it so that they can save face and cover up exposed mistakes. no case, indeed! how dare he have the nerve to say that! being so saturated in politics, and being in the PM’s department, he of all people would be the most privy to any corruption going on in the upper echelons of our country. how dare he sit there and have the cheek to deny that there is something so very wrong going on!!! *furious
when asked on how the panel is to proceed when the videotaker is not coming forward, he said “You have to ask them, I don’t know.”. yes obviously even the freaking panel does not know.
oh and then and then and thennnnnnn, he said this : “I can’t interfere, I am the executive.”. HAHAHAHA YA RIGHT as if the executive EVER had a problem with withholding interference in the 50 years leading up to this very day!!!!!! suddenly when you’re accountable for something so huge, you have a RIGHT to say that you CANNOT interfere??? what is this???
and this is my favourite part. the interviewer made a comment that if action is not taken by the government soon, then this issue would be forgotten by Malaysians. and Nazri Aziz said, “Who’s fault is that? It’s not the government’s - the fault is on Malaysians.”
so this is me playing my part as a good Malaysian. i sat here for an hour blogging one whole long angry post about this, so that this issue will not be forgotten by whatever few people i can reach out to. you know how when it comes to issues like this, people always say, there’s nothing you can do? WRONG. i have NEVER believed that there is nothing we can do, especially when armed with something as powerful as intellect, opinions, the freedom of speech and the one thing the government of Malaysia feels threatened by - blogs.
all that tripe about how bloggers are irresponsible, about how bloggers cant be trusted, obviously they say that because they know that we blog all their dirty dark secrets. we blog about what our crappy newspapers cannot say for fear of having their licenses revoked. we blog the truth. and that is what scares them, that is what makes them feel insecure, because they are afraid of us knowing the truth, the truth like this corrupt judiciary case. so here i am blogging about this, making sure my opinions about this are heard and that this issue is refreshed in the midst of all this complacence.
is there really nothing we can do to save the judiciary? of course there is. just keep talking about it over our lunch hours. keep blogging about it. join that Save The Judiciary group on facebook if you must. sign petitions. just keep talking and talking and talking, because that will pressure the hell out of them and ultimately force them to take some form of swift action that will satisfy the masses. we should not fear them; they should fear us because we have the voting power to take them out of government. and the more people realize this, the more educated and aware we become, the better off we are as a country and one people. because then, they know that we are smart. they know that we expect things, and that is when they will deliver. do you seriously want to continue remaining stupid for a government who wants to keep you stupid so they can exploit the hell out of you?
please think about that.
Selamat Hari Raya everybody.
122 comments October 13th, 2007
